- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 7 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding has been identified for further preventative innovations to combat the spread of hepatitis C.
Answer
In addition to their unified budgets, the Executive already gives over £8 million per year to NHS boards in earmarked resources for work to prevent bloodborne viruses, including hepatitis C. NHS boards use these resources in a variety of ways taking account of local need, including awareness-raising initiatives and needle exchange schemes.
In October 2004, linked to SR2004, it was announced that an additional £6 million per annum would be provided for drug treatment and rehabilitation services in 2005-06. This brings the total to £32.5 million per annum, an increase of 23% on 2004-05.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 7 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are sufficient resources available to ensure that people with hepatitis C are treated and counselled (a) inside and (b) outside hospital.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-13609, on 31 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 7 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are substantial support services available for people diagnosed with hepatitis C.
Answer
Since 2002, the Executive has made available resources for the establishment and ongoing activities of the UK Hepatitis C Resource Centre in Scotland, which is based in Glasgow and offers advice on testing and treatment to those affected by hepatitis C. The services provided by the centre are in addition to those made available through individual NHS boards.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 3 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has that local authorities may have moved funding from handyman services and aids and adaptations for tenants in the socially-rented sector in order to provide the required contributions to funding the Care and Repair Scheme.
Answer
Aids and adaptations andhandyman services for tenants in the social rented sector are funded from rentsand specific grants from Communities Scotland. This funding would not beeligible to be used to support Care and Repair services, which work to improvehousing conditions in the private sector.
Additional information onCare and Repair funding is available in the report “Care and Repair NationalIndicators 2003-04” published by Communities Scotland:
http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/web/FILES/carerepair2004.pdf.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 3 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether providing capital funding for works undertaken by the Care and Repair Scheme, which may include aids and adaptations and a handyman service, through the private sector housing grant disadvantages those in the socially-rented sector from accessing such services.
Answer
We are committed to meetingthe housing needs of people in all tenures across Scotlandincluding owner occupiers. Care and Repair projects help older owner-occupiersand private sector tenants to arrange repairs and adaptations to their homes,and may also provide handyman services for small household jobs. Clients mayapply for grants from the local authority, funded by Private Sector Housing Grant,to help with the capital costs of major works.
In the social rented sector,repairs and adaptations will be arranged by the landlord, and are funded fromrents and specific grants available from Communities Scotland. RegisteredSocial Landlords can provide handyman services for their older tenants if theywish, to help with jobs that would normally be the tenant’s responsibility. Insome areas agreement may be reached for one agency to provide handyman servicesto people in all tenures. This should be arranged with appropriate financialcontributions from all partners.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the objectives in its Financial Inclusion Action Plan of January 2005, what target it has for people living in "vulnerable and disadvantaged groups" working in sustained employment.
Answer
There is information on the Executive’s closing the opportunity gap website,
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/people/social-inclusion/17415/opportunity about targets relating to sustained employment for workless people dependent on Department of Work and Pensions benefits in key areas, 16 to 19-year-olds not in education, training or employment, employees of public sector and large employers on low wages, young people leaving care and residents of the most deprived neighbourhoods.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the objectives in its Financial Inclusion Action Plan of January 2005, how many people were designated as being in "vulnerable and disadvantaged groups" and living in Scotland in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The Financial Inclusion Action Plan refers to the Executive’s six closing the opportunity gap (CTOG) objectives, announced on 12 July 2004. One of these is: to increase the chances of sustained employment for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
The CTOG objectives are underpinned by targets identifying key aspects of poverty and deprivation on which progress is required. Details are available on the Executive’s CTOG website:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/people/social-inclusion/17415/opportunity.
Specific CTOG targets refer to workless people dependent on Department of Work and Pension benefits in key areas, 16 to 19-year-olds not in education, training or employment, employees of public sector and large employers on low wages, young people leaving care and residents of the most deprived neighbourhoods. The definition of “vulnerable and disadvantaged groups” is a wide one, however, and includes people with a wider range of characteristics such as disability or caringresponsibilities. Some people have multiple such disadvantages. It is notpossible, therefore, to give overall numbers, nor to break these down by yearor local authority area.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the objectives in its Financial Inclusion Action Plan of January 2005, how many people living in "vulnerable and disadvantaged groups" were in sustained employment in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004.
Answer
Figures for all people in Scotland in employment in the years concerned are as follows. It is not possible, however, to define how many of these are in vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, nor how many are in sustained employment.
| Levels* | Thousands |
| Year | Quarter | Employment |
| 2000 | Sep-Nov | 2,360 |
| 2001 | Sep-Nov | 2,351 |
| 2002 | Sep-Nov | 2,370 |
| 2003 | Sep-Nov | 2,402 |
| 2004 | Sep-Nov | 2,446 |
Note: *Levels are for those 16+.
Source: Labour Force Survey.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has to link deprivation in communities with crime and family breakdown.
Answer
There is a substantial body of evidence linking deprivation with crime and family breakdown available to the Executive. The evidence comes primarily from regular statistical surveys such as the British Crime Survey (BCS) and its Scottish equivalent, the Scottish Crime Survey (SCS), and from research on neighbourhood deprivation, social exclusion and poverty, undertaken at research centres across the UK, including research funded by the Executive on Life in Low Income Families, published in 2003.
The BCS has consistently revealed that individuals living in deprived neighbourhoods are more likely to register higher levels of victimisation and fear of crime than those living in less deprived neighbourhoods. The SCS confirms these findings for a range of crimes such as vehicle crime, violent crime and domestic abuse.
Research on poverty and social exclusion continues to draw attention not only to the extent of income and material deprivation experienced in poor families but also to the social consequences for the families concerned, including family breakdown.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 31 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish the Social Justice Indicators of Progress for 2004.
Answer
Our new Closing the Opportunity Gap approach has refocused our social justice strategy, and set out new objectives and targets, and action to deliver those targets. The targets were announced in the Scottish Parliament on 9 December 2004 and are referred to in the answer given to question S2W-12888 (answered on 9 December 2004), and more information can be found at
www.scotland.gov.uk/closingtheopportunitygap.Data on the social justice milestones continue to be available at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Social-Inclusion/17415/milestones#top.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/wa.search.
